My thoughts on the Phillies season.

The bullpen allows one to get away as the Phils fall to the Braves, 12-6.

The Phils bullpen comes apart in the late innings, at the Phils lose to the Braves, 12-6.

The Phils took the lead in the first as Jimmy Rollins hits a lead-off home run, his thirteenth home run of the season, giving the Phils a 1-0 lead. The Braves tied the game up at one-all in the second as, with runners on second and third, and with one man out, David Ross hits an RBI ground out, 6-3, scoring Freddie Freeman, who had earlier walked, stopped at second base on Dan Uggla’s single, then moved up to third base on Kyle Kendrick’s wild pitch, while sending Uggla, who had earlier singled, then moved up to second base on the wild pitch, to reach third base. The Braves took the lead two batters later as, now with runners on the corners, after Paul Janish’s walk, and with still two men out, Tim Hudson helped his own cause by hitting a two-run double, knocking in both Uggla and Janish, giving the Braves a 3-1 lead. The Braves then took a 4-1 lead two batters later, after Michael Bourn had walked, as Martin Prado hits an RBI single, scoring Hudson, while Bourn would go on to third base on the late throw to the plate. The Braves then made it a 6-1 lead in the fourth as, with one man on, and with one man out, Bourne hits a two-run home run, his ninth home run of the season, knocking in Janish, who had started the inning off with a single. The Phils started a comeback in the fifth as, with one man on, and with one man out, Rollins hits an RBI double, knocking in Kevin Frandsen, who had started the inning off with a single, making it a 6-2 Braves’ lead. The Phils then cut it down to a 6-3 Braves’ lead as Dom Brown followed with a double of his own, scoring Rollins. Two batters later, after Chase Utley is hit by a pitch, the Phils’ tied the score at six-all as Ryan Howard hits a three-run blast, his sixth home run of the season, knocking in Brown and Utley. The Braves regain the lead in the seventh as, with the bases loaded, via a double by Jason Heyward, an intentional walk to Chipper Jones and a walk to Freeman, moving up the runners, and with two men out, Uggla hits a bases clearing double, scoring Heyward, Jones and Freeman, giving the Braves a 9-6 lead. The Braves then made it a 10-6 lead as Uggla scored on third baseman Frandsen’s throwing error to first of Ross’ grounder. The Braves increased their lead in the eighth as, with a man on first, and with nobody out, Bourn hits an RBI double, knocking in pinch hitter Tyler Pastornicky, who had started the inning off with a walk, giving the Braves an 11-6 lead. The Braves then took a 12-6 lead three batters later as, with the bases loaded, after Prado walks, Bourn then moving up to third on Heyward’s fly out to center field for the inning’s first out and Jones intentionally walked for the second time in the game, and with one man out, Freeman hits an RBI ground out, 1-3, scoring Bourn, on a ball that pitcher Jeremy Horst could have turned into a 1-2-3 doubleplay if he had caught the ball cleanly. That would end up being the final score as Craig Kimbrel threw a 1-2-3 ninth.

Kyle Kendrick received a no-decision as he pitched only three and a third innings, giving up six runs on seven hits, three walks, and a wild pitch, while striking out a batter. Raul Valdes pitched one and two-thirds innings, striking out two. Michael Schwimer recorded a 1-2-3 inning, striking out two. Antonio Bastardo (2-4, 5.45) took the lost as he lasted just two-thirds of an inning, giving up three runs on a hit and two walks, as he struck out a batter. Josh Linblom pitched a third of an inning, giving up three runs, two of which were earned, on two hits and two walks. Jeremy Horst pitched an inning, giving up two walks, while striking out two. Tim Hudson also received a no-decision as he went four and one-third innings, giving up six runs on six hits and three walks, while striking out four. Luis Avilan pitched a third of an inning, getting out the one man whom he would face. Cory Gearrin also pitched a third of an inning, getting out the only batter whom he would face. Chad Durbin (4-1, 3.07) would get the win as he threw a 1-2-3 inning, striking out a batter. Jonny Venters, Eric O’Flaherty and Craig Kimbrel combined for three scoreless innings, giving up a hit (O’Flaherty) and a walk (O’Flaherty), while striking out five (Venters (1), O’Flaherty (2), Kimbrel (2)).

The Phils had seven hits in the game, with Jimmy Rollins (Double, Home Run, 2 RBIs), Ryan Howard (Single, Home Run, 3 RBIs) and Kevin Frandsen (Singles) all leading the team with two hits each. Dom Brown had the other Phils’ hit, a double, knocking in their sixth and final run. The Phils also had four walks and a hit batter (Chase Utley) in the game.

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